Death, Taxes and Blown Leads: The Downfall of Dan Quinn

Dan Quinn was fired by the Atlanta Falcons, along with GM Thomas Dimitroff following their 0-5 start to the season. Quinn, the former defensive coordinator for Seattle's famed "Legion of Boom", was named the head coach in Atlanta in 2015 and created a formidable defense in his second season with the team, led by young stars Vic Beasley, Deion Jones, and Keanu Neal. Atlanta was already loaded on offense, led by the star trio of Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Devonta Freeman. 

In Quinn's second season, the Falcons rolled through the NFC South, claiming the division title and a first round bye with a record of 11-5. Matt Ryan was named MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. The youth and speed on defense made Atlanta a formidable team, with Vic Beasley leading the league with 15.5 sacks combined with the stellar play of Jones and Neal in their rookie seasons. To nobody's surprise, Atlanta represented the NFC in Super Bowl LI against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Once again, the speed of Quinn's defense pressured Brady, as Atlanta took a 28-3 lead at halftime. 

That was the highlight of Quinn's time in Atlanta. Following halftime, Brady rallied New England back, forcing overtime where he would claim his fifth Super Bowl as the Patriots won 34-28. Quinn's defense went from being at the top of their game to blowing the largest lead in Super Bowl history in a half hour. 

It was downhill from there for Quinn, as his next 3 seasons would see his star players ravaged with injuries. The only guarantee with Atlanta under Dan Quinn: no lead was big enough to be safe.

In the opening weeks of the season, blew double digit leads against Dallas and Chicago, games they had a 99% chance of winning with under 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter. A blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers and a close loss to division rival Carolina were the final nails in the coffins of both Quinn and Dimitroff. What started as an impressive rise from Quinn, ended up becoming one of the biggest downfalls in recent history.